KANSAS CITY, MO — A bright orange door separates this European-themed bakery from the hustle and bustle of Walton Street, where tourists and Chicago residents flock to upscale retail and dining options. The door, along with Hendrickx Bakery’s location, is intentional.
After successfully opening a bakery and restaurant in the Bahamas, co-founders Dominique Schewebach and Renaud Hendrickx chose to open another bakery in Chicago because the pair appreciated the “big city” stamp with a neighborhood feel. After conducting a market survey, they discovered there were no artisanal Belgian bakeries in Chicago. Thus, Hendrickx found its home base.
“[Walton Street] is a great area,” Dominique said. “There are always people who live here, work here, visit here and shop here. It’s the perfect place to put an international bakery. There’s a mix of people who are open to an artisanal croissant that’s a little bit more expensive but more authentic.”
The key to business
What attracts people to this beckoning orange door is that croissant. More specifically, the 13 variations the bakery makes: chocolate, almond, pistachio, hazelnut, blueberry pastry cream … just to name a few.
“A lot of people come first for the croissant, and then they discover that we have everything from cakes and tarts to macarons and petites douceurs,” Dominique said. “It’s not uncommon to see the same customers here more than once a day. For instance, people working in the area in the morning will come for a coffee and a croissant, and then at lunch, they’ll come back for a salad and a sandwich.”
Having been in business for 16 years in the Chicago area, Hendrickx has solidified its menu, and customers appreciate the consistency. Very seldom will the team behind the bench add new items for the sake of a trend.
“For us to be interested in adding a new product, it needs to align with our values and be a product of quality,” Dominique said. “It must make sense with our philosophy of baking.”
The Croizāng’s origin story
One example that checked all these boxes — and became a permanent weekend menu item — is the bakery’s Croizāng. Known in Asian cultures as “Zang Zang Bao,” it’s essentially a chocolate croissant filled with chocolate cream, coated in chocolate ganache and heavily dusted with cocoa powder. After several customer inquiries about the Zang Zang Bao, Renaud and Dominique recognized an opportunity not only to put their city-renowned croissant in a new light but also to put a Belgian spin on the decadent Beijing-originated dessert.
“We’re Belgians … chocolate is in our blood,” Dominique said. “After talking it over extensively, we decided to go for it and create something just a little bit different. We even registered the trademark for the name ‘Croizāng’ after it was such a success.”
Intention is everything in the eyes of the consumer. This bakery, from its physical exterior to its hand-crafted menu, is proof that intentionality resonates the most with Hendrickx’s patrons.
“You have to pass through the kitchen to get to our seating area, and that’s by design,” Dominique said. “We want to be friendly; we want to have relationships with our customers. We’ve created a place where it doesn’t feel like just another business … it feels like home.”
This story has been adapted from the July | A2 2026 Craft to Crumb special edition mini-mag. Read the full digital issue here.
